The present invention is directed toward a protective pad for a crib rail and more particularly toward such a pad which not only covers the crib rail to protect an infant from injury but which also emits a noise, thereby entertaining the infant.
As is well known in the art, babies are often confined in cribs or playpens or the like for considerable periods of time even during times that they are awake. Even at a very young age, such babies are able to stand up by themselves by grasping the vertical slats which form the side walls of the crib or playpen and pulling themselves up. Eventually, they grasp the horizontal rail which is supported at the top of the slats. Occasionally, a baby may fall against the rail and injure himself since these rails are normally made of a relatively rigid material.
Insofar as Applicant is aware, only one proposal has been made in the past to provide a protective pad for crib or playpen rails to protect a baby from injury. Such proposal is described in U.S. Pat. No. 2,600,556. The device shown in this patent is an elongated substantially rectangular-shaped pad having a cover therefor which is intended to be bent in an inverted U-shape to cover the top and side edges of a crib or playpen rail. Fasteners are also provided for maintaining the pad in place.
While the protective pad shown in U.S. Pat. No. 2,600,556 probably would provide the protection suggested therein, it would appear to have several drawbacks. First, the fasteners are adapted to secure the pad in only one position. Thus, the pad cannot easily accommodate rails of different sizes. Secondly, the pad cannot easily be utilized on a crib rail since no provisions are made for the vertical rail guides at the ends of the rails. Even further, the pad shown in this patent merely covers the rail and there is no other interaction between the baby and the protective pad. As a result, this pad does not encourage the baby to stand of lift himself up.